Good Grief Weston Festival celebrates love & loss
30 October 2024
A unique programme of events and activities across North Somerset opened up conversations around death and bereavement, with honesty, compassion, joy and sometimes with humour.
The Good Grief Weston Festival 2024 (10 – 13 October), produced by Super Culture in collaboration with the University of Bristol and the Weston-super-Mare Community Network, welcomed over a thousand people to the area for a four-day festival exploring love and loss in safe, inclusive spaces.
This year’s festival built on the success of last year’s inaugural event, and extended its reach to communities in wider North Somerset with a specially curated programme of more than 30 creative experiences, designed to encourage people to connect, talk and discover new support systems where they live.
Community members of all ages and from all walks of life participated in a broad range of workshops, events and activities from theatre, film, talks, walks, arts & crafts and storytelling to music, movement, poetry, dance and nature taking place across indoor and outdoor venues in Weston-super-Mare and outlying areas in North Somerset.
Fiona Matthews, creative director at Super Culture, said: “It’s a privilege to be part of Good Grief Weston. The honesty and bravery that members of the community bring to the event is humbling, and every single story shared and connection made is hugely valuable.
“Creativity can play such an important role in navigating challenging issues and a vast emotional palate was in play across the weekend, with some memorable thought-provoking levity provided by Granny Jackson’s Dead, the immersive theatre show at the heart of this year’s festival. A big thank you to everyone who took part – as artists, facilitators, speakers, programmers, listening ears and participants.”
Professor Lucy Selman from the University’s Bristol Medical School added: “When people are provided with opportunities to learn about grief and bereavement and share their experiences, it is incredible to see what unfolds. Good Grief Weston shows that grief and loss can bring us together in our shared humanity. Our thanks to everyone who made it possible.”
Good Grief Weston is part of the national Coastal Community & Creative Health project. The project is funded by UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) under its Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC)-led Mobilising Community Assets to Tackle Health Inequalities programme, which aims to improve health through access to culture, nature and community.
The event takes its inspiration from the award-winning Good Grief Festival, started in 2020 by Professor Lucy Selman and Dr Lesel Dawson at the University of Bristol. Since its launch the virtual festival has reached over 30,000 people through a programme of free events and its YouTube Channel, The Grief Channel.
Continuing the theme of the festival, and to mark National Grief Awareness Week, on 6 December there will be a performance of the critically-acclaimed ‘After All’ by Solène Weinachter at Front Room Theatre, melding dance, comedy, storytelling and theatre to ask – what happens in the end? On 7 December, Solène follows up her performance by hosting a Death Café. More details and booking HERE
Find out more about upcoming creative opportunities for artists as part of the Coastal Communities Creative Health research project by contacting coastal-cch@bristol.ac.uk
Here’s some comments about people’s experiences of Good Grief Weston 2024
“Great community spirit – I really liked the variety offered around the exploration of grief and loss.”
“Well organised and providing lots of support for a difficult subject.”
“A great mixture of events, which will hopefully help in the path towards normalizing conversations about death, dying and grief.”
“A lovely holding space and atmosphere was created through all the things I attended.”
“The performance of Granny Jackson’s Dead was ….funny, grief should encompass the happy/funny memories of the loved one.”
“An expertly put together festival on a very difficult topic – just wonderful.”
“It is a fantastic and brave festival for WsM and necessary for communities to take ownership of living and death.”
“It was amazing going to spaces where you could talk openly about grief. I came away feeling less lonely and inspired to talk about grief more with my friends and family.”
Lead image by Paul Blakemore